(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to acriculture, more specifically to the distribution of herbicides by sprayers which are sensor activated.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Weeds pose a constant problem in agriculture. Farmers find it necessary to treat fields with herbicides to try to control weeds. This practice is expensive and time consuming
Previously, the control of weeds has been accomplished by hoe hands who manually chopped the weeds in a field. While this manual weed control was effective, it has, in recent years, become increasingly expensive as well as hard to find people to do this type of work.
It is increasingly the rule that farming is done by only the farmer and his sons with few, if any, other employees. For this reason, the time spent in the field is at a premium. Tractor manufacturers have developed larger and larger tractors to enable the farmer to do more work in less time. It is not uncommon for a farmer to cultivate between rows of a growing crop every week to ten days during the growing season. It is impractical on the other hand, for the farmer to treat his fields with herbicide more than once in a season. New emphasis has been placed on doing two or more jobs each time that the farmer goes through the field. To the best applicant's knowledge, however, no means for selectively spraying herbicide on weeds, relying on sensory activation of automatic spraying means is known in the prior art.
Prior to filing this application, the applicant caused a search of the prior art to be made at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That search revealed the following patents:
______________________________________ RE 26,166 Inhofer 3,016,653 Gardner 3,586,237 Taylor 3,609,913 Rose 3,683,547 Harden 3,866,397 Koziol ______________________________________
Koziol shows a brush eradicator which has flails to cut the brush and rubber flaps to mechanically activate sprayers. These rubber flaps are located to strike the stumps of previously cut brush.
Rose discloses the use of an electric eye to sense plants and spray herbicide thereon. No means for remote control of the spray nor cultivation is disclosed in this patent. A delay circuit is included between the sensor and the sprayer.
Gardner shows a specially designed valve which operates on a very light mechanical touch.
Harden and Inhofer disclose ways to either avoid spraying the leaves of a growing plant or to direct a spray to the leaves of a growing plant, and are of only tangential interest in this application.
Taylor shows a sprayer which may be controlled by the tractor driver.